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New York to ban animal sales at pet stores in 2024
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A true best friend: Two dogs sit on the runway before the Bibhu Mohapatra show during New York Fashion Week at Spring Studios in New York, the United States, on Feb. 15. (AFP/Angela Weiss)
P
et retailers are set to be barred from selling dogs, cats and rabbits in the state of New York come December 2024 under a new law, signed by governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday, which is designed to stop the supply of animals from so-called puppy mills.
Hochul, a Democrat, said banning pet stores from selling pets would help protect animal welfare and clamp down on abusive wholesale breeders.
New York joins a small group of other states, including California, Illinois and Maryland, that has instituted similar bans on such sales. The law leaves the door open for pet stores to work with animal shelters to encourage adoptions, including rental space.
“Dogs, cats and rabbits across New York deserve loving homes and humane treatment,” Hochul said in a statement.
Animal welfare groups celebrated the bill’s signing, while some pet businesses voiced concerns that it would damage legitimate operators in the industry.
CEO Matt Bershadker of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) said it was a “historic win” for both animals and consumers.
“By ending the sale of cruelly bred puppy mill dogs in state pet shops, New York is shutting down the pipeline that enables retail sellers and commercial breeders to profit from unconscionable brutality,” he said in a statement.
Selmer’s Pet Land in Suffolk County, on New York’s Long Island, warned in a Facebook post that the legislation would allow unethical breeders to flourish in the black market and make it more difficult to obtain a pet.
“By ending licensed and regulated local pet stores, you will remove the people who vet breeders, insure the health of newly homed pets with established veterinarians and guarantee the success of a new pet family,” said Jessica Selmer, president of People United to Protect Pet Integrity, as quoted by The New York Times.
The number of pet stores in the state, which had been on the decline, stood at around 80, the report said, and that the law would allow people to buy animals directly from breeders, according to the outlet.
The bill received bipartisan support in a state legislature dominated by Democrats.
